Over 12,000 Hydro-Quebec customers were without power Tuesday morning after inclement weather struck several regions throughout the province.

As of 12:30 p.m., power had been restored to most clients, with just 1,291 households without electricty.

The freezing rain, strong winds, and falling branches caused outages in several regions, most notably the Laurentians and Montérégie.

Work crews were dispatched in areas that were most heavily affected to try and restore power as soon as possible.

The power outages are a residual effect of yesterday's perilous weather. The Sûreté du Québec  reported about a hundred collisions and off-road accidents since 2 p.m.

Montreal police advised drivers to remain at home, if possible. Even in the days following the initial storm, officials suggest that drivers remain extra cautious, reduce their speed, and increase the distance between vehicles. 

The SPVM said 50 to 60 road accidents had occurred because of the treacherous driving conditions. 

Users took to social media to tweet about the state of the city's roads on Boxing Day. Both city officials and concerned citizens are cautioning drivers against travelling today. 

 

 

Twitter users from Ottawa are alleging that cars have been abandoned along a stretch of the 401 highway due to extreme traffic build-up.

An Air Canada flight bound for Moncton was grounded indefinitely at Trudeau airport due to icy runways. Several others were cancelled or delayed due to the inclement weather. 

"We were looking out the window [of the plane], and the windows were frozen-- so it was pretty obvious that it wouldn't be the best conditions out there," said Jean Cabral, a passenger on the flight bound for New Brunswick. 

Cabral explained that despite plans to de-ice the airport's runway, a take-off at this point seemed "optimistic." 

For this reason, Aeroports-Montreal recommends that all travelers double-check the status of their flights before venturing to the airport. 

Pedestrians should be advised that the city sidewalks are also very slippery, so walk slowly and with caution.

Quebecers were warned against the rain earlier this week, when meteorologists predicted freezing rain, snow and sleet, with some regions getting as much as 15 centimeters of precipitation, as well as strong winds.

A freezing rain warningwas issued for Laval and the Chateauguay-La Prairie and Longueuil-Varennes regions. Up to 5 millimeters of ice buildup is possible.